Apple Announces iPhone 5c with Color Plastic Backs [UPDATE]

Apple announced the much-leaked iPhone 5c on Tuesday (note the lower case "c"), and as expected it will be a 4-inch device with colorful plastic backs in Green, White, Blue, Red, or Yellow. The iPhone 5c will be priced at US$99 for a 16GB device with a two-year contract (in subsidized markets), and $199 for a 32GB device.

Apple made the announcement at its "This should brighten everyone's day" event in Cupertino, CA. The device will ship on September 20th, and it will be available for preorder on Friday, September 13th.

iPhone 5c

The iPhone 5c features a 4-inch Retina Display, an Apple-designed A6 processor, a higher capacity battery than the iPhone 5, an 8MP iSight camera, a five element lens, and a hybrid IR filter.

On the radio side, the iPhone 5c includes dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi with, "support for up to 150 Mbps" and Bluetooth 4.0. Apple said it supports 13 different LTE wireless bands, a feature that won't affect many users directly, but does make it far easier for Apple to manage inventory for its carriers.

The iPhone 5c will offer, "10 hours of talk time on 3G networks, up to 10 hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi and LTE networks and up to 8 hours on 3G networks, and up to 10 hours of video playback and up to 40 hours of audio playback."

iPhone 5c - Back, Front, Side

"iPhone 5c is beautifully, unapologetically plastic," Apple design guru Sir Jonathan Ive said in a video presentation at the event. "Multiple parts have been reduced to a single polycarbonate component whose surface is continuous."

[Update: This article has been updated with additional specs, images, and information.]